


RED

by minimoonp



Series: RED [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-13
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-08 08:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/759320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minimoonp/pseuds/minimoonp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Why don't you go visit your grandmother today dear?" a young looking brunette woman said to her red headed daughter. "Go see grandma?" the young girl asked her mother. The mother nodded. "Yes, you have not seen grandma in a while and I'm sure she misses you. So why don't you go spend some time with her."  The little girl got ready, put on her red cloak, and set off for her grandma's house.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let's Visit Grandma

**RED**

 

-Chapter 1-

"Why don't you go visit your grandmother today dear?" a young looking brunette woman said to her red headed daughter. "Go see grandma?" the young girl asked her mother. The mother nodded. "Yes, you have not seen grandma in a while and I'm sure she misses you. So why don't you go spend some time with her."  The little girl got ready, put on her red cloak, and set off for her grandma's house.

That girl was me.

My name is Rose, but most people lately call me Red, as in little Red Riding Hood. But also red, as in all the blood I've been shedding recently. Everything changed the day I left for my grandma's house. Everything changed for the worst.

I had finally made it to my grandmother's neighborhood after quite a long walk and the whole area was devastated. The first person to greet me was my cousin, who had been living with my grandma at the time, covered in blood with his hair violently tussled and his shirt torn in many places. He looked panicked.

"Hunter what's going on? Are you ok? Where's grandma?!" I asked as he grabbed my arm and started running.

"No time to stand and chat. I'll explain as we run." he replied as he continued pulling me. I finally complied and started running as well.

"Where is grandma?" I asked once again. Hunter looked down but never slowed his pace.

"She's...Grandma's gone ok?"

I immediately stopped running.

"Gone?! What do you mean gone?! As in..dead?"

Hunter facepalmed as he stopped and turned to me. "I mean gone, as in, gone. Vanished. MIA. Or as grandma would say herself, she flew the coop. I don't know where she went. I just know she left some supplies, a note, and her shotgun. Now come on." he said. I suddenly noticed the backpack he had on, but that wasn't important.

I crossed my arms in defiance. "No. First, I want to know where you're running to and who you're running from? And why in the world would Grandma just take off without saying anything?"

"Ok, 1) Grandma takes off all of the time without warning, 2) Where am I going? Well obviously away from here because, 3) The things I'm running from!"

Hunter grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to face the entrance of the cul-de-sac. All around were ugly looking creatures that vaguely resembled people, and they were heading our way.

"Are those zombies?" I questioned.

"Yes, that would explain the blood all over and the running. I had managed to distract them and was trying to get away as quick as possible until you showed up!"

"Ok, ok! Sorry! Let's keep going!" I said and we started running again.

I wasn't sure if we would be going back to my house so I fished around in my pocket until I found my cell phone. I scrolled through names until I found my mom's number, and called it. There was a long pause before she actually answer.

"Mom! I-"  
"Rose is everything ok?" my mom interrupted sounding a bit worried and a little bit pained.  
"Um, just a bit of trouble but nothing me and Hunter can't handle." I lied. "Are you ok?"  
"I'll be fine dear.,," she started coughing and it sounded painful. "I'm going to be a bit busy though dear so just, hang out at Grandma's for a little while, ok?"  
"Grandma is kind of..." more coughing, "MIA right now." I explained.  
"Well just stick with Hunter. I have to go now. Remember, I always love you dear."  
"I love you too."

She hung up the phone right after that. The way she phrased that last sentence...something was wrong I just knew it.

"Hunter," I said slowing down my pace; we had well out run the monsters by now, "I don't know where you were planning on going but we need to go to my house. Somethings wrong with my mom?"

"Somethings wrong with auntie? What?" he questioned looking back.

"I don't know, it seemed like she was in trouble or hurt or something though."

"Alright then. To your house we go and then we'll figure out what to do from there."

I nodded and we made our way back to my neighborhood cautiously. Everything seemed quiet and calm compared to where we had just come from. When we got to my house I tried to open the door but it was locked so I took out my key and unlocked it.

"You go ahead and check on Auntie. I'm going to take a quick look around alright?" Hunter told me.

"Ok then." I said and went inside closing the door behind me.

As I entered the house everything seemed fine. Same few coats on coat rack, no sound of guests. Everything looked ok, until I entered the living room. Furniture was knocked over, a small plate was shattered on the ground along a coffee mug that must have still had some coffee in it, seeing as it was all over the carpet, but there was also blood. I remember hearing my mother coughing over the phone. Could she have been choking on her coffee and panicked when she couldn't get any air? In her terror did she vomit blood? Is she ok? I frantically started calling for her only to hear no response. It was then that I heard clattering in the kitchen! I rushed over as fast as I could and that is when I saw her. Her back was turned towards me but I could see her staggering around. I wondered if she had hurt herself.

"Mom!" I shouted, relieved to see her up and about even so.

She paused when she heard my voice and then turned to face me. I jumped when I saw her face. She had blood running down her mouth and splattered all over her hands and shirt. Her skin had paled drastically and had a grey-ish tone to it. The biggest thing I noticed was that her eyes had rolled into the back of her head. I just couldn't believe it. My mom had turned into a zombie.

"Mom..." I muttered, as she came closer to me, moaning and groaning as she went.

"Mom no! Stop!" I yelled but she kept coming.

I couldn't do anything but try to get away as fast as possible. Of course at that moment my feet decided they did not want to coordinate and when I stepped back I tripped and fell.

As she came closer and closer I began screaming. The next thing I know, I heard someone shout my name and a couple of bullet shots. Soon my mom slumped and then hit the floor never to move again...

_"Rose are you ok?"_

I recognized the voice as Hunter but I could not respond. I just stared at the body of my mother on the floor. My hand was in pain and probably bleeding. I'm guessing I cut it on the broken glass on the floor, but I just stared, feeling numbed to the world. I stared at my mom, stared at the large bullet holes that went straight clean through her head, stared at the woman that had raised me all of my life and I loved dearly who was now dead on the floor.

_"Rose, I'm so sorry...I'm sorry..."_

I know he did what he had to do but that didn't stop the pain. I had just sat and watched my mother die, right in front of my eyes. I could not stop the tears from coming, and I could not stop crying. I must have cried for about an entire hour...


	2. Beware Alpha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Z to the Double 3 has taken over!

-Chapter 2-

I had finally calmed down some after about an hour or so of crying. Hunter had moved me to the couch while I guess he cleaned up a bit. The first thing I noticed was my mom's body was gone. Well not exactly gone but moved elsewhere and wrapped in some sheets, so says Hunter himself. I also notice that furniture was flipped right side up and all broken glass was off of the floor. Speaking of broken glass, my hand was hurting very badly. Hunter had cleaned the wound the best he could and enveloped my hand in bandages. He had finally sat back down next to me and embraced me in an awkward hug.

"Rose, I am so sorry. I was trying to keep her from getting you and-"

I interrupted. "I know, it's ok. It's just hard. I did not think that this morning when I left my mom...it would be the last time I'd get to see her. As herself that is."

"I am still trying to figure out what happened though." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"The door was locked right? No one else was here but your mom?"

"Right."

"Then how did she, y'know."

"Get zombie-fied? I don't know. Do you think its airborn?" I asked.

"No, if it was it would have been affecting us too. It could just be a dormant virus that is in everyone. I don't know what would have caused it to suddenly activate though."

I groaned. I was not in the mood to be dealing with this. What could be causing it?

"Hey didn't you say Grandma left you a note? Did it say where she was going?"

"I just kinda skimmed the note but I don't think so." He said fishing the note out of his pocket. I grabbed it and looked it over. It was written on her special woods theme stationary.

"Hunter,

I had to go run some important errands and I will not be back for a while.  
Keep this bag of supplies with you in case of emergencies.  
I'm also leaving you my favorite shotgun. Also for emergencies.  
(Don't shoot yourself with it. Be careful!)

I love you!  
-Grandma"

On the bottom of the letter were strange little doodles quickly scribbled and a weird symbol that reminded me a bit of the symbol for Anarchy.

"Hey! There's Grandma Code at the bottom!" I said surprised.

"What kind of code?" Hunter inquired.

"Grandma Code. It's like something she writes that you have to decode. She came up with it when I was little and we'd use it all of the time. Only a few people can understand it." I explained.

"Uh...huh."

"You mean she didn't show you?"

"No. But that's alright, I don't care. What does it say?"

"I think you do." I said mockingly.

"Just read!"

"Fine! It says, 'Beware Alpha Corporation' and that's all."

"Alpha Corporation? They make food and clothes and stuff right?"

"Yeah, and it was the brand of coffee my mom was drinking. She just bought it yesterday."

"Hm... When I was trying to clean it off the carpet earlier, I noticecd it had a strange smell."

"Coffee always smells weird." I mumble.

"No it doesn't. Anyway, I'm wondering if the coffee could have cause the...y'know. Alpha Corp. seems to be getting really popular lately and grandma gave us a warning."

I sat there deep in thought. Could the coffee really have done something like that? My mom, and many others, could have been enjoying their hot cup of morning coffee and then... I shuddered slightly. If that was true though, I have to wonder, is it only coffee or other food products made by Alpha as well?

"I want to look up some information on Alpha Corp. Do you have a laptop?" Hunter questioned pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, uh, yeah. It's under the couch. Here you go."

I reached underneath the couch and pulled out my laptop. I handed it to him, dorky cartoon stickers and all, and he quickly turned it on. He then went online and typed **_Info on Alpha Corporation_** , but the only thing that came up were quite a few LOOKIPEDIA pages. Hunter. getting frustrated, decided to let me search for a while and finally I found something that looked promising. It was an Alpha Corporation website with nothing but a submit box to enter a passcode.

"Do you know how to hack?" I asked

"Nope, do you?"

"Not really..."

"I think I know someone who can. Hold on, let me call her." Hunter said pulling out his cell phone.

"Her? Is she a friend, or something more? Hmmm?"

Hunter gritted his teeth, "Just a friend."

He dialed the number and waited, putting the phone on speaker. It rang and rang until finally someone finally picked up and there was a loud moan. Hunter looked worried.

"Hello?" he said cautiously.

"What do you want Hunter? I was asleep." a girl grumbled on the other line.

"Oh," Hunter said relieved, "I would appologize but it's almost noon. What are you doing still asleep?"

"Hey! Don't question my sleep patterns and I won't question yours. Now, what do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could help me crack a website passcode."

"I feel insulted. You were "wondering" I could? You know that I can, easy. What website?"

"Alpha Corporation."

"Ew... They have a website? I'll see what I can do. Where are you?"

"My cousins house." he replied.

"Ok then... Send me an E-mail from the computer you're using."

"Alright, but why'd you ask where I was? To see if I was close by to your house?"

"Uh, yeah, let's go with that."

I opened up my E-mail and Hunter quickly type in her E-mail adress and sent something short. Moments later an E-mail from her came and he opened it. Suddenly a little deformed looking character with messy yellow hair and big green eyes popped up on the screen. It gave off a high pitched cackle and then Hunter lost control of the computer. The girl began talking again.

"Z to the double 3 has now taken control!"

"Wow Zee, way to be flashy." Hunter mumbled.

"Wow Hunter, way to have so much pink on your computer."

"It's not my computer!"

The girl, apparently named Zee, closed my E-mail and went back to the Alpha website.

"Ok, this is the site? Alright, I'm going to hang up for a moment and get to work.

"Ok thanks." Hunter said and put his phone away.

"So we just wait?" I asked.

"Yep." Hunter said looking at his ripped up shirt. "Do you happen to have anything I can change into, maybe?"

"Um... Actually I think you left a jacket here. Check the hall closet."

"Alright then thanks." he said and walked off.

I sat there on the couch watching different windows opened and closed. Tons of flashing numbers and code is quickly typed and deleted. Suddenly a little window popped up and a girl with messy blonde hair was there, her face being tilted in drastic angles.

"Alright, did I fix the camera? Can you see me and hear me ok?"

"Uh yeah, both crystal clear. Is everything clear on your end?" I asked.

"Yup. So you are Hunter's cousin I'm guessing." she asked.

"Yes, my name is Rose."

"Nice to meetcha, I'm Zee." she said and gave me a wave. "So I think I'm close to figuring out the code and- Eeeep!"

Zee let out a little squeak and her face disappeared from the screen. The next thing I knew, Hunter had sat down next to me and he didn't have a shirt on.

"HUNTER PUT A SHIRT ON!" I yelled looking away.

"I'm going to, geez! Hold on." Hunter said as he pulled a dark grey and blue hoodie over his head. "There."

"Thank you." I said.

A few moments later Zee's face returned.

"Sorry, technical difficulties." She said, her face slightly flushed.

"Oh, hey zee." Hunter said surprised.

She just gave him the peace sign and went back to work.

"So like I was saying, code, should be done in 3, 2, 1."

We looked back to the Alpha Corporation site and watched as 13 little dots appeared and then the submit button was pushed. A welcome screen came up reading, "WELCOME BACK TRUSTED ALPHA EMPLOYEE."

"And we are in. I hand control over to you, but be careful. I'm also going to be doing my own search as well." Zee told us.

"Thanks so much Zee." Hunter said.

"Yeah thank you." I also said.

"You totally owe me one Hunter." Zee said and once again her face disappeared.

The moment we got control back we went straight to work.

We started off with **Memos** , and the first thing that came up was:

-ATTENTION-

  
No one is allowed to eat the products.   
The plan has already been set into motion.   
If caught you will be fired and persecuted.   



	3. Inventory Check

-Chapter 3-

It was at that moment we were positive that Alpha Corporation was the cause of the zombie outbreak. The food they manufactured was being used to somehow turn people into zombies upon consumption.

"If caught they'll be persecuted? Don't they mean prosecuted?" I said.

"No, I'm pretty sure they mean persecuted. Eat the food and they'll exterminate you. Can't have employees turning into flesh eating monsters right?" Hunter said.

Zee reappeared once again, a proud look plastered on her face.

"Alright, well I'm finished here! What exactly were you two looking for though?"

"Proof to see if Alpha was responsible for the crisis that's going on." Hunter said.

"Crisis? What crisis?"

"Zombies" Hunter replied and Zee gave him an incredulous look.

"Look me straight in the eyes and say that again."

"There are zombies. They were all over the place at my house and Rose's mother had turned into one."

"Hunter, I have heard you say some strange things before. This one though, really takes the cake-which-is-actually-a-lie."

"Well it is the truth. The food products that they make are turning people."

"I have heard nothing of this."

"Zee, you were asleep. Of course you haven't."

"I have been awake since late last night. I had just went to sleep about an hour or so before you called."

"Oh..." Hunter said and I saw Zee roll her eyes. "Well-"

Hunter had began to speak again but a ringing sound interrupted and caught Zee's attention. Zee held up a finger, telling us to hold on. We quietly listened to what sounded like a male voice speaking hysterically.

"Zee! Are you seeing this right now?! There are like, zombies or something all over the house!"

We noticed Zee's face had changed to an expression of shock with a hint of fear. She mumbled quietly, in denial of what she was seeing.

"I told you so." Hunter quipped.

"Shut it!" Zee retorted.

"Shut what? What do I do? I had left for a moment after giving my friends some snacks and came back to this!" the boy yelled.

"Well don't just stand around! They might infect you if they bite you! Fight your way out of the house, numbnuts!"

"I don't want to hurt them though. They were my friends."

"Key word: WERE! It's you or them."

"Cold..." he mumbled and then there was the sound of fragile objects breaking and obsene words.

"I just don't want to lose a friend because he is being sentimental toward monster friends who want to do nothing but eat him. This isn't a movie. They aren't going to realize what they are doing is wrong and learn to be human again." Zee scolded.

"Right, right... Ok, if I get out, I'll call you back later." the boy said sounding determined now.

"Good. Oh, don't eat anything from Alpha Corp. by the way."

"Yeah, Ok, whatever. Bye!" the boy said and just before he hung up we heard what sounded like a fire alarm. I didn't know who the person was, but I surely hoped that he would be ok.

Zee turned her attention back to us, took one look at Hunter, and groaned in disgust.

"I hate, hate, HATE when you're right." she grumbled, "But there doesn't seem to be any problem here where I am so..."

"Just be careful over there, alright?" Hunter said.

"Don't worry I will. By the by, I would get off this site. Someone just noticed us and we don't want anyone tracking us or-"

"Kicking us off?" I asked as the site went back to the log in screen.

"Yeah... Hopefully you were done doing whatever it was you were doing." Zee said.

"Not really, but I think we have all the info we need at the moment." Hunter replied.

"Well, I took some stuff off of the site myself. I have quite a bit of information and files. If you really need em' just ask. But right now I'm running on about an hour or so of sleep, so I'm going to take a quick nap and hope I don't wake up getting chomped by the undead."

"Thank you for all the help." I said and she gave me a thumbs up.

"No problem! Talk to you later."

Hunter and I said goodbye and watched as all of the code screens disappeared along with her video screen. The last thing to go was the little character that had first appeared, that I realized was supposed to be a tiny version of her.

We sat there for a moment in silence until I decided to speak up.

"So what should we do now?"

"I'm not sure. We can't really stay here. We have no idea if your neighbors have eaten some Alpha food. We could be in trouble." Hunter replied.

"True, I guess... but before we go let me just get some things together."

"Alright then. How about we take a look through the bag Grandma left me first?"

"You mean you never opened it?"

"I didn't have time to."

Hunter took the backpack and dumped everything on to the couch.

"Wow, way to be careful." I mumbled.

We moved everything into small piles as we took inventory.

There we're four (4) large water bottles, about five (5) small boxes of bandages of multiple sizes and shapes, one (1) bottle of disinfectant, quite a few bags of healthy snacks, one (1) box of matches, and a lighter -probably in case the matches get wet. There were also a few clips of bullets to go into the shotgun.

"That seems like enough stuff right?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, but let me run to my room really fast and get something." I said and he nodded as I headed towards my room.

I opened the door to my room and grabbed a backpack from the corner. It was a bag my mom had me keep in case of a natural disaster. It had a blanket, a flashlight, a phone charger, and a small notebook and pen. After grabbing that I went back into the living area and saw that Hunter had already packed everything back into his bag.

"You ready to go now?" he asked and I nodded.

Hunter readied his gun and went out first, me following behind. By habit I locked the door, and as we walked away I took one last look at my house.

I silently told my mom goodbye, and then the two of us made our way back out into town.


End file.
